Companies and other large entities increasingly rely on distributed computing where many user terminals connect to one or more servers that are centrally located. These locations called “data centers” may be facilities owned by the company or may be supplied by a third-party. These data centers house not only computers, but may also have persistent connections to the Internet and thus, conveniently house networking equipment such as switches and routers. Web servers and other servers that need to be network accessible are often housed in data centers. Where a third-party owns the data center, the entity in question rents a “cage” or enclosure that has racks upon which component equipment, such as computers and routers, can be installed. It is also possible for the entity to simply lease the equipment from the third-party owning the data center, or from another third-party which has leased space from the data center operator. In any case, the data center is usually divided into a number of predefined areas, including a shipping/docking area, assembly area, and area where enclosures and their constituent racks are kept.
Typically, the business process of installing and operating new computer or networking systems in the data center involves a series of independent stages. First, based on determined requirements, components of the systems are ordered through a vendor or supplier. Once the components for these systems are received, they are entered into inventory logs and “asset” tags which identify components for future reconciliation/audits are created. While the order for the components themselves may identify a number of attributes that each component should have (i.e. amount of memory, number of ports, model number etc.), the inventory systems often do not, and may only be concerned with the fact that the item was in fact received, and what the serial number or other distinguishing identifier is. Conventional asset IDs track accounting information such as depreciation, but not other attribute information.
Once a component or set of components is received it is ready to be installed in the data center. Installation is not typically performed by those employed in the receiving/warehousing department or by those who track inventory. The current environment relies on highly skilled employees for all aspects of component installation. Because such skilled workers are in short supply, the installation of new components in a data center can take weeks. Further, such installation takes a longer time because the installer must first discover the configuration and other attributes of the components. Furthermore, the operation of such components in the data center is controlled by management systems, which dictate what software is to be installed, how the components are to be connected etc. The management system is run by the administrative or Information Technology (IT) departments within a large entity such as a corporation. The management system must in turn, identify, once products are installed, what they consist of, and how to configure or operate them. This information must be discovered by the management system through agents that can communicate with the products, or entered manually into the management system by skilled operators who can inspect the component or test it to find out its attributes and configuration because the original order data and the received physical component cannot be easily correlated.
There is thus needed a more efficient operating procedure for the management system that requires less use of skilled workers and decreases the deployment time of components in a data center.